Card-counting machine



H C. MERGENTHALER AND E. G. MERGENTHALER, DECD.

SAFE DEPOSIT AND musr COMPANY or BAL CARD COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man rams. 1911.

TIMORE. ckzcurons Pafented Feb. 22, 1921.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. G. MERGENTHALER, DEC'D. AND SAFE DEPOSIT AND TRUST COMPANY H. C. MERGENTHALER 0F BALTIMORE, EXECUTORS.

CARD COUNTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR- 3, IBM.

Patented Feb-22, 1921.-

I 3 SHEETSSIIEET 2.

a 1...93.wrxr

Ml M.

5 5.) KKAPP.

I 4 v 1 IIIIIIIII LEIIIV 13mm I m E. G. MERGENTHALER, DEC'D.

H. c. MERGENTHALER AND SAFE DEPOSIT AND TRUST COMPANY qr BALTIMORE. EXECUTORS,

' CARD COUNTING MACHINE.

v APPLICATION map MAR. a, 1911.&

1,369,120. Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

. 3 SHEETS'SHEET EUGE1\TE G. ivrnnenn'rnannn, or BALrrMonn, MenYnAnn; HERMAN o. Mnaen r rnnsr COMPANY or BALTIMORE, EXECU- SAID EUGENE e. nnaennrnanne,

THALER AND SAFE DEPOSIT AND TOR/S OF DECEASED, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-' HALF T0 HERIJZAN C. MEBGEN'IHALEE, INDIVIDUALLY, AND ONE-HALF .TO; SAFE DEPOSIT AND TRUST COIMPANY O BALTIIvIOBE, TRUSTEE.

oenn-oonnrrne MACHINE;

Specification of Letters Patent. I patgnfgfl 22 1921 Application filed March 3, 1917. Serial 1\To. 152,308. r

T 0 all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, EUGENE G. Minimum 'rHALnn, a citizen of U. S. of America, re-

count any number of articles from one to the maximum number which the machine is adapted to hold, and which are of any uniform, unit thickness.

With this object in view the invention contemplates the provision of a mechanism, including an article holder of predetermined length and adapted to hold an exact number of articles of a predetermined, uniform unit thickness, combined with a relatively movable counting mechanism, whereby the latter will express,'in terms of the number of articles of that particular thickness, the amount of relative movement between the holder and counting mechanism. 7

The invention also embraces means whereby relatively movable contacts fix a distance corresponding to the total thickness of the several articles of uniform thickness, together with'means for expressing this distance in terms of thenumber of articles of such uniform thickness included in such total thickness. r V V The invention further embraces means whereby this distance may be expressed in terms of the number of articles included therein, said means being adapted to count articles of any predetermined unit of uniform thickness desired.

Another feature of the invention is means,

whereby when a movable contact is brought up'against the article the contact pressure actuates a further means whereby the movement of the contact is arrested. There is a further provision whereby the contact is arrested always at the same predetermined pressure. V j

In the preferred form of the invention, the device comprises an article holding means adapted to hold a definite numberf of articles of, selective unit but uniform thickness, and movable longitudinally of the articleholding means'is a carriage provided with a counter, and an article contact means which is adapted to yield at'a predetermined pressure and actuate braking means whereby the carriage is stopped in contact position; the article holding means counter, and carriage are provided with interconnected means whereby as the carriage is moved over the article holding means and into articlecontactingposition, the counter registers the number of articles of'that selective unit thickness included inthe dis-' tance traversed.

The invention also comprehends certain further features of construction and combinations of parts which are hereinafter de-' scribed and set forth in the claims.

con

The invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and the following detailed descriptionof the construction illustrated therein. I

In the drawings, 7 Figure l is a plan view of the counting device, the table being shown broken-ofi'.

Fig. 2 is. a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a front view lookingdirectly at the article contact plunger, and.

Fig. 4: is a detailed View in section of the contactplunger and carriage locking means.

The machine shown is a portable device adapted to count cards or sheets of paper but it is of course understood that the principle of the invention may be applied to larger stationary machines which might be used a paper plant where at the present time sheets are counted individually, en

tailing a' largeamount of labor.

the base 1- of the machine is providedat its upper portion with a=carriage slide 2: and a rack 3, the latter being preferably on the under side andarranged centrallywof'the base thereof, one end of which terminates in an upstanding arm or abutment 4 against which the sheets of paper to be counted are In the illustrated form of the invention--- placed, the-thicknesses of the paper extending lengthwise and resting on the top of the base which is formed into a sheet hold vided at the sides, preferably, with the projecting arms 7 to engage the base sides. on each side of the central rack and also extending lengthwise of the table are the slots 8, 8, through which the arms 9, 9, project downwardly from the carriage and. these arms are provided at their lower ends with the bearings 10, 10, for the shaft 11, which has fixedly mounted thereon a pinion 12 7 adapted to mesh with the rack 3, whereby when the shaft is turned the carriage will be translated over the length of the table.

At the front, the carriage is provided with housings for the article contact plun ger 13, and the carriage locking rod 18, respectively the former being providedwith contact head 1 adapted to be brought into contact with the articles on. the table and normally projected in advance of the carriage by means of the spring 15.- A. nut 16, limits its extreme movement in this direction. Preferably arranged beneath the contact plunger and adapted to be actuated by the contact head 14: is the carriage locking rod 18 provided with cam faces 19, 19, adapted to press the friction braking studs 20, 20, into contact with the stationary frame of the base 6, whereby the carriage is held in fixed position. This rod 18 is likewise projected into forward position by the spring 21. On the carriage and to the rear of the plunger bracket is mounted the shaft22, on which is fixedly mounted the gear 23, adapted to mesh with gear 24, fixed on the lower carriage or co'untingshaft 11. On the extreme outer end, the shaft 22 is provided with a crank arm 40 for rotating said shaft, but it is obvious that any means may be used to rotate the aforesaid shaft. On the inner end the shaft 22 is fixed the gear 25 and this gear, through an intermedn ate train of gearing mounted on the carriage,

drives a shaft 26, which in turn is adapted to drive a shaft 30 by means of any desired,

type of variable speed drive, in the present instance shown as the ordinary conical surface drive including the adjustable friction V cones 28 and 29. The cone 28 is fixed on the shaft 26 while the cone 29 is fixed on 7 the'sha'ft 30. Any suitable means may be used for rovidin an ad'ustable mountin D for the shaft. 30. In this illustration a guide 31 is made integral with the carriage 6 and runs parallel with theface of the cone 28.

Mounted for movement in this uide is the block 32 provided with the universal mounting 32 for the shaft 30. The block 32 is adjusted-by means of the usual'micromcter screw 33 and the bracket thereof is provided at a convenient point with'scale divisions corresponding to various thicknesses of articles to be counted.

As shown in the drawing the graduations are arranged for paper sheets having thicknesses from .003 to .006 inches,.but it is to Operation.

The carriage is brought back to its extreme rear position or initial counting position at which place the recorder reads its maximum. The bundle of sheets is now placed against the abutment 4 with the thickness of the bundle extending lengthwise of the table. The crank 40 is now turned,

rotating the shaft 22 and advancing the carriage 6 along the rack 3 and over the table, until the contact plunger 13 hits the foremost sheet, pushing back the plunger 13 until it contacts with the locking rod 18, whereupon it is caused to rccede into the housing and the cam faces thereon depress the braking studs against the stationary frame, holding the carriage locked in contact position. The carriage is released by rearward movement. It will be noted that because of the small pressure surface of the head 14 of the contact plunger 13, the contacting pressure is transmitted over only a small section of the articles to be countedthus requirlng the minimum force to beenerted on the carriage actuating lever 40. The uniform pressure of the spring 15 provides a means whereby the same pressure is brought to bear on the package of sheets irrespective of whether these are one or any number of sheets theiein. Hence the car riage is always stopped at a predetermined pressure of the carriageoperating means, and the carriage islocked as soon as the predetermined pressure has been reached.

By fixing the length of the rack on the sheet supporting table 1 to correspond tothe total thickness of a predetermined numberofsheets of a predetermined uniform thickness, and by fixing the length of the cir'cuInalong the rack the translation and rotation of thepinion canbe availed of for register ing the number of sheets included in-. the distance along the rack the shaft is trans-- .lated. For instance, the movement of one tooth distance of a rack and opinion having a circular 'pitch of 0.1571 inches corresponds to a carriage movement over a dis-V tance equal to 52.3666 sheets of .003 inches thickness per sheet. So that when the carriage travels from initial counting position When it is desired to count sheets of different thickness the gear ratio between the pinion 12 and the shaft is correspondingly changed bymeans of the micrometer 33.

A machine such as described is adapted to handle any shape or length of sheet without making any changes and is adapted to count a large number thereof rapidly with only a very small percentage of error, due to the ordinary variation in thickness of each sheet.

While I prefer to employ the construction and arrangement of the various mechanisms embodying the features of my invention in the form in which I have shown them in the accompanying drawings, it will be understood that various changes and modifications in the specific construction of the parts and in the specific construction and arrangement of the various mechanisms may be made without departing from my invention.

Vvithout' attempting to set forth in detail the various constructions and arrangements in which the features of invention may be embodied, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the class described, article supporting means, providing an abutment for one side of a pack of articles of uniform thickness, a rack mounted on said supporting means, means movable on said supporting means and adapted to contact the oppo-v site side of the pack of articles held on said article supporting means, a pinion mounted on said movable means and meshing with said rack, means to rotate said pinion to translate said'movable' means to pack contacting position and means to register the number of articles held between said abutment and said movable means when in pack contacting position.

2. In a countingdevice, means having a surface adapted to hold apredetermined number of articles of predetermined uniform thickness, said surface being of a length corresponding to the total thickness of such number of articles, a. second means movable relatively to such surface and adapted to contact against said articles, said means including an element the length of the circumference of which corresponds to a pro- I portionate part of such total thickness, means causing the element to be revolved and to be translated from initial counting position into a position such that said second means contacts the articles, a counting device, means connecting it to said shaft, whereby said device indicates the amount of rotation of said element in terms of the number of artlcles contalned in the distance said shaft is translated.

3. In a device of the class described, a plurality of means adapted to contact therebetween the exterior faces of a serie'sof articles arranged in juxtaposition, one of said means having rolling engagement along the other,

means operated by such rolling engagement to register thenumber of articles held at the moment of contact of said means with said articles and means to vary the registering means: to count articles of various thickness. I 4. In a device of the class described stationary holding means adaptedto contact one extremitiy of a thickness of articles arranged in juxtaposition to be counted, arack on said holding means, means movable relatively to said first named means adapted to contact the opposite extremity of said thickness, a pinion journaled on said movable means adapted to mesh with said rack, a counting device on said movable means and gearing connecting said pinion and counting device. 5. In a device of the class described, stationary means adapted to contact one side of a pack of similar articles to be counted, a rack thereon, means cooperating with said posite side-of the pack of articles, a plliiOll on said cooperative means adapted to mesh with said rack, acounting device, gearing connectingsaid pinion and counting device and means to vary-the ratio of said gearing to count articles of various thicknesses.

6. A holding table provided with means at one end for holding articles in counting position, a rack of predetermined length thereon, tively to said table, a counting shaft mov-' able with said'article contact means, a pinion mounted onsaid shaft and meshing with said rack, a counting device and means connecting said counting shaft and counting device to indicate the number of articles held.

7. In a device of-the class described, a member to hold articles to be counted, means having rolling, engagement therewith and adapted to contact with said articles, mech: anism operated by the relative movement of ber of articles held therebetweem'said means article contact means movable relaincluding variable gearing whereby articles of different thicknesses may be counted.

8. In an article counting device, article holding means adapted to hold the articles imposition to be contacted, article contacting means movable relatively to said holding means, means operable by contact of said contacting means with said articles to automatically lock said contacting means in article contacting position, means operable by said contacting means to register the number of articles held at the moment of contact.

9. In an article counting device, article holding means adapted to hold articles in a fixed position, article contacting means movable relatively thereto, means actuated by said contacting means and adapted to lock the same in contacting position.

10. In an article counting device, article holding means, article contacting means movable relatively thereto, means actuated upon a predetermined pressure of said contacting means and adapted to lock the same in contacting position.

11. In an article counting device article holding means adapted to hold articles in a fixed position, a contacting-means of relatively small contact surface movable rela-s tively to said holding means and adapted to contact the articles held and locking means for said contacting means and actuated thereby. a V

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses".

EUGENE Gr. MERGENTHALER. lVitnesses: MABEL R. BEARD, GLAnYs E. EMRICH. 

